chummies
a-plantin' peach-trees togeder. Dat's fine, ain't it? But den, de
finis' of it!--an' de finis' of it is, Ou' Sculpat hain't got no hair on
him any mo'."

"Why! did tortoises ever have hair on?" demanded little Annie in blank
astonishment.

"O' course dey had hair on," retorted Old Hendrik, protesting at such
astonishment in his hearer. "Ain't his big broder, de otter, got hair
on him yet? But Sculpat would get mix' up wid Little Hahsie, an' dere
you is; he hain't got no hair on him no more."

"Oh, how was that? Do tell us," begged Annie.

"Why, it was dis a-way," went on Hendrik. "When dey did meet, an' when
Ou' Sculpat finis' talkin' big, an' Little Hahsie finis' talkin' butter,
den Hahsie feel dat good an' harum-scarum inside him dat he hop, an' he
skip, an' he monkey off across de veldt till he come to a farm, an' dere
was de peach garden right in his way, wid de farm house a bit way off
f'm it.

"Well, Little Hahsie he squot an' he sniff, an' he tink about de dogs
an' de little boys dat frow stones; but he tink o' de peaches too, an'
he feel yust dat cussed dat he's a-gun' to have a try at dem peaches if
he lose his tail for it. He can see de fence is all aloes an'
prickly-pear, growin' dat close dere ain't room even for Ou' Ringhals,
de snake, to get troo, let alone a Hahsie; but dat ain't a-gun' to send
him off widout peaches.

"So he looks about, an' dere's a round stony koppie yust back o' de
house an' garden, an' he hop round an' up de back side o' dat koppie,
an' peep over to have a reglar look at tings. An' under a tree at de
foot o' de koppie he sees two fat dogs a-sleepin', an' comin' f'm de
garden dere's a little boy wid his daddy's ole hat full o' peaches; dese
big, fine, girl's-cheek peaches. An' de boy goes an' sets down under de
tree.

"Little Hahsie he look at de boy, an' he look at de dogs. Den he look
at de big stones, an' de little bushes all down de side o' de koppie, an
his big eyes 'gin a-shinin'. `I knows how I'll get dem peaches,' ses
he.

"Well, he creep down de koppie troo de bushes an' de stones till he's
right at de bottom an' on'y about forty yards away from de little boy,
an' den he pop out right in front o' him. He gi'es one hop an' he gi'es
two hop, an' den all of a sudden he squot flat, like he's yust seen de
little boy an' tinks de boy ain't seen him. But dere's one fair ole
yell an' one mighty ole yump f'm darie boy, an' den he's yust a-sikkin'
de d